LIVERPOOLâS Tom Stalker promised boxing fans WWIII when he makes his Olympic debut against Indiaâs Manoj Kumar tomorrow.
Despite his cameo appearance on TV screens in the athletesâ parade at the Opening Ceremony, a first-round bye means light welterweight Stalker will be the last British boxer to get a taste of the action in the ExCeL Arena.
But if his last bout with Kumar is anything to go by action will be in plentiful supply. The pair met in the quarter-finals of last yearâs World Championship with Stalker prevailing 24-18 with neither fighter willing to take a backwards step.
And having seen the raucous reception afforded to his British teammates, including Fred Evans, the Commonwealth gold medallist admits he is chomping at the bit.
âI canât wait to start my campaign to win that Olympic gold medal,â said Stalker.
âI have been thinking about nothing else, but I know I canât look too far ahead. I have got to take it one fight at a time and I am not looking any further than the Indian on Saturday.
âI fought the Indian in the worlds for the bronze medal match. I won but it was a proper war.
âHe likes to come forward and to be fair I was up for it too and it was a really good scrap.
âI think it is going to be another war on Saturday and the crowd are going to be lively, having seen the way they responded to Freddie.â
While Stalker received a bye, Kumar was in action on Tuesday and the welterweight Commonwealth gold medallist was in commanding form beating Serdar Hudayberdiyev 13-7.
Normally a bundle of energy, Stalker has faced a constant stream of sparring partners to keep him active and maintains he wonât be caught cold.
âI hope I wonât be too rusty,â he added. âWe have had some sparring partners in from Team GB so I have been doing a bit with them and I donât feel too bad. But having seen the boys go out there, I wish I could out there today.
âI have got my little girl and all my family coming down on Saturday. A load of my mates canât get tickets but I canât try to help them because I am just focussed on my fight, I donât want to get into all of that.â
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/boxing/2012/08/03/tom-stalker-ready-for-war-against-manoj-kumar-100252-31538316/Good luck to local Huyton lad Tom Stalker when he gets started in the ring tomorrow.